The new cultivar is the result of chance discovery. The new variety was discovered as a single plant among a group of seedling, of unknown parentage observed by the inventor, Peer Sorensen. The discovery was made during 2007. Discovery was made at a commercial nursery in Waitara, New Zealand.
After selecting and isolating the new cultivar, asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘YAKU26’ was first performed in a commercial nursery in by vegetative cuttings in 2008. The inventor maintained the original plant, and observed the clones for several years, to establish stability of the characteristics. ‘YAKU26’ has since produced multiple generations and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.